Andrew Lang is Associate Professor of History and Graduate Coordinator at Mississippi State University. This interview is based on his new book, A Contest of Civilizations: Exposing the Crisis of American Exceptionalism in the Civil War Era (The University of […]
American exceptionalism
Did American exceptionalism survive Trump?
Bloomsburg writer Mihir Sharma says that Americans shouldn’t get so uptight about apparent threats to their democracy. Maybe sometimes we need an international voice to help us keep things in perspective. Here is a taste of Sharma’s piece, “World shouldn’t […]
Episode 79: John Foster Dulles and the Cold War Protestant Left
In this episode we talk about the connections between liberal Protestantism, American foreign policy, and the Cold War in mid-20th-century America. We discuss these themes through an examination of the life of former U.S. Secretary of State (1953-1959) John Foster […]
Episode 78: How a 1630 Sermon Shaped American Exceptionalism
Our guest in this episode is Abram Van Engen, author of City on a Hill: A History of American Exceptionalism. He helps us make sense of the phrase “city on a hill” in John Winthrop’s famous 1630 sermon A Model of […]
Is America unraveling?
Anthropologist and public intellectual Wade Davis asks if the era of American exceptionalism is over. For your consideration: Read Davis’s Rolling Stone article here.
Why Os Guinness, Eric Metaxas, and David Barton are “dangerous”
Needless to say, I was glad to see Abram Van Engen of Washington University in St. Louis critique the way Os Guinness, Eric Metaxas, and David Barton are manipulating the American past. I also appreciate his shoutout to the Conference […]
Wednesday night court evangelical roundup
What have Trump’s evangelicals been saying since our last update? John Hagee invited Fox News commentator, conspiracy theorist, disgraced Christian college president, and convicted felon Dinesh D’Souza to speak at the Sunday evening service at his Cornerstone Church in San Antonio. Watch: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXnd5fMkIaA&w=560&h=315] […]
Thinking historically about Trump’s Mount Rushmore speech
A lot of conservatives liked Trump’s speech on Friday night. I am told that The Wall Street Journal gave it a positive review. I commented on the speech here, but I thought I would say a few more things about Trump’s […]
Will the Coronavirus Kill American Exceptionalism?
Johann Neem is an important voice in our defense of American institutions, civil society, and an educated citizenry. Here is a taste of his recent piece at The Washington Post: “The Next Victim of the Coronavirus: American Exceptionalism.” The rise of […]
Zakaria: Government Ineffectiveness is the “New Face of American Exceptionalism”
Watch: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9WWSXNH6cY&w=560&h=315]
American Exceptionalisms
Martin Spence is Associate Professor of History at Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He is writing for us this weekend at the Annual Meeting of the American Historical Association in New York City. Enjoy his latest post. –JF The […]
Episode 45: A City Upon a Hill
One of the most enduring phrases at the heart of American exceptionalism is John Winthrop’s famous proclamation that the Puritan colonists were establishing a “city upon a hill.” But the story of this lay sermon is much more complicated, and, […]
The Author’s Corner with Daniel Rodgers
Daniel Rodgers is Professor of History Emeritus at Princeton University. This interview is based on his new book As a City on a Hill: The Story of America’s Most Famous Lay Sermon (Princeton University Press, 2018). JF: What led you to […]
The Author’s Corner with Donald Akenson
Donald Akenson is Douglas Professor of Canadian and Colonial History at Queen’s University. This interview is based on his new book Exporting the Rapture: John Nelson Darby and the Victorian Conquest of North-American Evangelicalism (Oxford University Press, 2018). JF: What led you to […]
The End of American Exceptionalism?
Today I will be teaching John Winthrop’s sermon A Model of Christian Charity to the teachers in the Princeton Seminar. You may know this as the famous “city upon a hill” sermon. Winthrop’s words have been used by several U.S presidents […]
What is the Difference Between “American Exceptionalism” and “America First?”
Abram Van Engen of the Washington University English Department makes this distinction in a recent piece at Religion & Politics. Here is a taste: American exceptionalism asserts a unique history and destiny for this nation. It is usually based on a […]
The Author's Corner with Philip Gorski
Philip Gorski is Professor of Sociology at Yale University. This interview is based on his new book, American Covenant: A History of Civil Religion from the Puritans to the Present (Princeton University Press, 2017). JF: What led you to write American […]
Who is Walter Brueggemann?
This is Walter Brueggemann: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aUZiROSevo&w=560&h=315]
What Do Eric Metaxas and Hillary Clinton Have in Common?
They both believe that America is a “shining city on a hill.” Some of you may remember that I questioned the way Eric Metaxas used this phrase in his book If You Can Keep It. You can read the criticism here. […]
My Review Series on Metaxas's "If You Can Keep It": A Wrap-Up at RNS
Six posts are enough. I could say a lot more about Eric Metaxas’s book If You Can Keep It: The Forgotten Promise of American Liberty, but I decided, for a variety of reasons, to bring the series to an end yesterday. […]